Ranma Nibun no Ichi
by Ranma-sensei
Summary: The manga is over - or is it?
1. Prologue

Ranma Nibun no Ichi

Volume 38½

From what Weddings may come

--

**Legal Disclaimer:** Characters copyright Takahashi Rumiko, Shogakukan, Kitty, Viz, RTL and many others. I'll return them... Nabiki can be quite persuasive, you know.

--

_I hate my life!_ Still in her wedding dress, Akane sat at her desk, sighing sadly. She had come _so_ close to marrying Ranma today, but it just went downhill after he had asked her why she had agreed. _Why can't I just admit it? He wo--_ Her thoughts were interrupted by a faint knock at her door.

The raven-haired girl stood up and walked over to the door, easily guessing who it was. Of course, Ranma would feel it was all his fault! But while that may hold some truth, she realized she was just as guilty as he was. She opened the door, and as expected, Ranma stood there, still wearing his tuxedo and twiddling his fingers.

"Uh, Akane... I--" Ranma didn't come farther, Akane yanking him inside her room and shutting the door. His girl shoving him against the door made him scrunch his eyes closed and wait for the blow that didn't come. He cracked one eye open, again.

Her hands pressing his shoulders firmly against the door, Akane looked sternly into his eyes. "We need to talk."

The pigtailed boy nodded his head. When she had handed him the kettle to change back, Kasumi had told him to think about his life as it was, before talking to his fiancée. _Man, was she right or what? This has to end._ "Roof?" he asked.

"Roof." Akane answered, already opening her window.

Watching his fiancée's idle grace as she jumped up in her dress, Ranma wondered why he had never before recognized her for the powerful martial artist he knew she was.

Quietly touching down on the roof, Akane settled on the gable and motioned for Ranma to do the same. "Ranma..." she started when he sat down beside her, "What is wrong with us?"

"Huh?" her fiancé asked intelligently. She sighed.

"Look, I just know you love me, an-- No, let me finish!" She raised a hand. "And I... I-I lo-love you, Ranma." _My hair should catch fire any moment now!_

"Eh?" Ranma reacted with shock. "You're not wearing the reversal jewel, are you?

Although a little miffed, Akane smiled. "No, Ranma. Not this time." She sighed wistfully. "Though it would have been very helpful this afternoon. I wanted the whole world to know when I wore it. Now..." Snort! "Now I'm having trouble admitting my feelings even to you! I'm _so_ pathetic." She sighed.

Ranma, not knowing how to answer her, kept his mouth shut.

"You know..." Looking up into the night sky, the Tendō girl let the light breeze caress her face. "It's a small miracle. You and me." she added, correctly guessing the confused look on her fiancé's face.

"...Yeah." Ranma, for once in his life passing the chance for a wisecrack, looked up, too. "Funny thing is, I can't imagine life without you, anymore." He grinned at her sidelong. "This is all your fault, Akane."

"Baka." Akane said fondly.

"Tomboy." came the soft retort.

"We'll always be at that, it seems." Akane grinned. "But I wouldn't have it any other way." She frowned. "Assuming we survive, that is." A thoughtful look passed her features.

"Tell me about it." Ranma closed his eyes, his head again turned to the skies. "I... I-I really thought I'd lost you, there." His voice cracked nervously.

"Me, too." Thinking back, Akane shuddered, and hugged her knees. _If only you knew..._

"Say..." Ranma looked at her. "How come we can talk about that, but not about anything..." He felt his tongue knot itself, and sighed. "You know what I mean."

Akane just nodded, and laid her head onto her knees. "Because we're stupid, I suppose."

"You got that right." Ranma let himself fall back onto the roof. "I'm sorry. I'm so awkward with words.

Akane smiled at him. "I know that, Ranma." Then she lay down beside him.

Down in her room, Nabiki grinned as she removed her headphones. "Typical." She took the tape out of her video recorder and ripped it out of its plastic cover, then binned it.

--

Next morning, after breakfast, Soūn Tendō explained the extent of the wedding fiasco and the implications: "...So we have arranged for the wedding to be delayed until you can sort out your personal affairs." He took a long puff off his cigarette and blew out a little smoke.

Akane turned to her fiancé. "Pay attention! All this mostly applies to _you_, Ranma."

"It was as much your fault, _Akane_." retorted Ranma.

The two teens both sighed in unison. _Who are we kidding?_

"We better get going or we'll be late for school." the Tendō girl finally said.

Waiting for Ranma to don his shoes, Akane smiled fondly. Catching her gaze, Ranma looked a little uncomfortable.

"Itte kimasu!"

Ranma and Akane took off towards school, the pigtailed boy running beside her for a change, rather than on the fence.

--

**Author's Notes:** This is just something that came to me when I was trying to type down a totally different approach. I'll continue it; I have some ideas, but they aren't solidified, as of yet. The basic idea itself came from the narrative text at the end of the manga: "And so, the wedding was postponed... but only for a little while." Go figure my intentions. :P


	2. Volume 39, Chapter 1

Ranma Nibun no Ichi

Volume 39

Perfect Chaos

Chapter 1

After-Wedding

--

**Legal Disclaimer:** Characters copyright Takahashi Rumiko, Shogakukan, Kitty, Viz, RTL and many others. I'll return them... Nabiki can be quite persuasive, you know.

--

Running to school, Akane glanced sidelong at her fiancé. _He's really trying hard to finally close the distance between us._ she thought, smiling fondly. A bicycle bell interrupted her train of thought. _Shampoo! How dare she?!_ She was getting angry.

"Wo Da Airen!" Again discarding her vehicle in mid-motion, Shampoo practically flew at Ranma.

This time, however, Ranma side-stepped the assault, and the chinese amazon slid across the pavement face first, ripping it open in her path. Akane winced.

"Yo, Shampoo." the pigtailed boy greeted cheerily, although a lot cooler than usual. He then crossed his arms wearily. "Whatcha want?"

"Airen go date with Shan Pu." the purple-haired girl bubbled, picking herself up totally unscathed.

"No." Ranma said flatly. Shampoo facefaulted.

"But Shan Pu have cure fo--" She was interrupted by a kick into her back. She glared back at Akane.

"And what cure would that be, coming from you?" the raven-haired girl inquired with her eyes narrowed. "You're always trying to make him jump through hoops with whatever useless magic you have.

"Violent girl no interrupt. Is Shan Pu business."

"You know, she's right." Ranma stared at her, flat-eyed. "You always make me go through hell for some possible cure. But in the end they're all just the same Jusenkyō crap." He turned on his heel and continued on towards school. After a few steps, he stopped and half-turned. "You comin', Akane?"

"Uh... Yeah." Shaking her head to get rid of her perplexion, Akane caught up to him and matched his stride.

Shampoo just stared after them, her jaw hanging to the floor.

--

Quickly mowing down Kunō at the gates and plowing through the rows of freshmen going after Akane, Ranma and his fiancée arrived at their homeroom just before Miss Hinako did. They made a beeline for their seats, thankful to be able to avoid the inevitable questions a little longer.

They had been getting their hopes up too soon:

"So, you two:" chibi Hinako-sensei started, "How was your wedding night?"

Akane blushed deep red and sunk into her chair. "There was none." she whispered.

A mighty cry of "What!?" rose the school's roof about two feet into the air.

"Hey, don't look at me like that!" Ranma burst out. "The wedding was stopped. And I had no part in it!"

"I had." These whispered words let the whole homeroom go deathly silent as all eyes were suddenly on Ukyō. "Most stupid thing I ever did." the chef exclaimed meekly, casting her eyes down on her desk top. Burning gazes bored into her from every corner of the room.

"Happō Go-en Satsu!" As soon as those words rang out, Ranma and Akane dropped flat to the floor. Milliseconds later, the aura-sucking vortex from the child-like teacher's coin drained everyone in its path.

Her body filling out her now tightly fitting dress, Miss Hinako smirked. "Delinquents are to be punished." When she touched her thumbs and index fingers together, Ranma and Akane dove for cover behind the teacher's desk.

"Happō Tsurisen Gaeshi!" Hinako cried, and Ukyō was blown out through the wall, along with a few unlucky scholars who happened to be in the way.

"Weird day." commented Akane, peeking over the desk top.

"Tell me about it." answered her fiancé, pulling her back down to safety. "C'mon, let's get outta here." He picked her up into his arms and leapt out the nearby window.

--

"Aw, shoot." Onna-Ranma set Akane down to her feet, and they entered the Tendō compound. "Why does this always happen to me?"

"Oh, come on, Ranma." Akane smiled at him. "You're just miffed, because the rain stopped just after you got wet."

"So?" The boy-turned-girl turned to glare at his fiancée, but subsided at her smile. _She's so cute._ He blew out a breath. "Yer right. But I hate it, when that happens."

"I know. Come on, let's get some dry clothes and take a bath. I go first. Walk in on me and you'll pay." Akane said with a grin.

"Okay." said Ranma, not quite getting it. They went up to their respective rooms, Akane going down to the bath, and Ranma reading a manga in his room.

--

"Ranma-kun, why don't you take a bath?" Nabiki said standing in the doorway, a sly look on her face.

"Yeah, right." Onna-Ranma turned back to her manga. "Akane's there, right now."

"Oh, I'm sure she won't mind." The mercenary grinned.

"Look, she hasn't pounded me in over a month. I'd like to keep it that way." Ranma snorted. "At least for a while." he added under his breath.

"Aw, no fun." When she turned to leave, Nabiki stood eye to eye with Akane. She started.

"Onē-chan!" The youngest Tendō growled, then turned to smile at her fiancé. "Bath's ready."

"Thanks." Ranma jumped up, grabbed his clothes, and left the guest room.

"You know." Nabiki said, laying a finger to her chin. "There's nothing about it. You'd be married by now, i--"

"Which isn't the case, thanks to you." Akane cut her off, a slight edge in her voice. "So, yes, there _is_ something about it." She then turned and stalked off to her room.

Nabiki 'tsk'ed. "That's the thanks I get..."

--

"Great-grandmother!" Shampoo came bouncing into the kitchen. We have to do something. she started in Mandarin, Akane almost won the husband!

Xian Pu... Cologne sighed wearily – and a little angrily. I've told you before you crashed the honoured male's wedding, and I'll tell you now: You have lost.

Nooo!! the purple-haired amazon wailed. What you say can't be true!

It is, child. Cologne sighed again. _Infatuation at its worst._ Once a recognized male chooses his mate, all other claims become null. She carefully appraised her great-granddaughter. You, as my chosen heir, know that full-well.

B-Bu-... Shampoo turned and fled to her room, tears trailing behind.

_I am sorry, my child. But this is the law._ The elder amazon massaged her temples. If only Mousse...

--

_Akari-chan..._ As always, Ryōga Hibiki was lost. His gifts for his fiancée hadn't yet expired, though. _There is so much to tell--_ His thoughts were cut short by a truck splashing him.

_Why me?_ The little black piglet sighed and took the straps of his backpack in his mouth, pulling it with him.

--

Akane sat at her desk, wondering how one day could stretch this long. The answer was easy: _Being in school for only a few minutes does make your day longer._ She sighed and got up. _Might as well get some training done._

Changing into her gi, the raven-haired girl started thinking that maybe she could try and persuade Ranma to start training her; eventually deciding it would be futile, anyway, she went straight to the dōjō.

Warming up, Akane found her anger harder to tap into than it had usually been. Not that she minded, but it was so much easier to focus her powers that way. _One more thing to fix._

A hand firmly gripping her shoulder startled her. She whirled around and punched...

Ranma impacted the wall with a booming sound, out cold.

"Ranma!" Akane ran over and cradled his hand in her lap. "I'm sorry. Does it hurt?" she asked, when he woke up.

"Brutish tomboy." The fond grin on Ranma's face betrayed his words.

"Jerk." Grinning herself, Akane helped him up.

"You know, you'll never get better if you don't spar with somebody."

"Asshole!" The Tendō girl bonked him in the head. "Who am I always shadow fighting, here?" She slid into a battle stance. "Come on, fight me for real." she said challengingly.

"Uh, I dunno..." Ranma scratched the back of his head. "I might hurt you."

"Oh, don't you worry about that." Akane charged in and struck with her left fist.

_Man, she's almost fast enough for the Chestnut Fist._ Again, Ranma realized how badly he had underestimated her skill level. So entranced by her fluid grace, he was hit by the blow, although it only grazed him. He felt his arm twitch, but easily controlled it.

Barely evading a fist aimed for his groin, the pigtailed martial artist noticed his body responding with only part of the speed he wanted it to move with. It felt heavy and slow, totally unlike he was used to. It made him feel off.

Akane was happy. Sure, Ranma was again playing tag with her, but she _had_ already 'tagged' him. Although a small voice in the back of her mind told her that something had to be wrong with her man, she smiled all over.

Another hit. Ranma's arm jerked, but he managed to control it. He grit his teeth. There was no way his reflexes would get the better of him!

Another blow. The boy barely held his jerking arm in check. He couldn't speed up, he was losing control of his reflexes, and now his body seemed to be getting slower, too. _This is unacceptable!_ Everything just seemed off today, and he couldn't imagine...

Ranma's distraction cost him, Akane's fist impacting his solar plexus. He staggered backwards, and watched in horror as his arm, hand balled into a fist, snapped upward...

Not expecting anything like that from her fiancé, Akane just stared as the fist raced towards her. The raven-haired girl was blown across the dōjō and impacted the wall. Crumpling down to the floor, she fought to stay conscious.

"Akane!" Ranma panicked.

Akane blacked out...

--

**Author's notes:**

Okay, so I am evil – anything else that's new? This chapter _might_ be subject to changes, by the way.


End file.
